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A living room with functionality and style

April 25, 2014

'This room receives daily use by the entire family," says Dee Elms of Terat Elms Interior Design in Boston. And that, she said, is why so much attention was paid to the details.

For starters, a single wall fills so many roles. It has a painting, a firewood holder, a fireplace, and a television. "Correctly composing all the different elements required a careful hand," Elms wrote in an e-mail.

For some context, this is the living room of a recently renovated Queen Anne-style 1885 home in Cambridge's Avon Hill neighborhood - sort of between Belmont and Somerville. The homeowner, Elms wrote, wanted a Scandinavian Modern look. "So our goal was to keep the home very clean and contemporary." That was achieved largely by painting the entire first floor white on white.

And then, Elms explained,"We injected bold colors into the room using fabrics, art, and accessories."